Unfortunately, the “nègre” soon had enough of his epigrams, and abandoned him, and this brought about his ruin. Haying lost all his means of subsistence, he went back once more to Paris to implore pity from the King, but in vain, and on March 29 he died miserably in an attic in the Rue Montmartre, aged sixty-five.
APPENDIX
We print here a certain number of letters and documents found for the most part among the unpublished papers of Lady Atkyns, not used in the body of this book, yet too interesting to be entirely omitted. The letters of the Princess de Tarente, in particular, seem to deserve inclusion in their entirety.
Letter from Jean-Gabriel Peltier to Lady Atkyns.
“London, January 1, 1803.
“I have the honour of sending you, Madame, a letter which I received yesterday from my friend.[77] The ferment Paris is now in makes me fear that he may have been obliged to leave the night of December 27-28, and it must have been very stormy.
“I have at last managed to get at Mr. Burke in the House of Commons. He has promised me an interview at as early a date as possible. I introduced M. Goguelat to him, and he seemed very glad to make his acquaintance. He had been driving the evening before with M. de Choiseul, Mr. Pitt, Lord Grenville, and Lord Loughborough, at Lord Hawkesbury’s. We had time only for a word.
“I cannot close my letter, January 1, without sending you à la Française, my good wishes for the New Year. I know well what the object is that you yourself would wish most to see achieved.”
Letter from Louis de Frotté to Lady Atkyns.
“London, December 10, 1794.